This leg of the trip was pleasant, and I saw the sun for several hours, for the first time in days. The desert-like terrain and the snow-capped mountains in the distance were reminders of how different the landscape is from that of Indiana.
It had been in the 50’s when I left the Phoenix area in the morning, but by the time I stopped at a rest area in the mountains of southwestern New Mexico the temperature had dropped to the 30’s. I overheard several people talking about the possibility of another storm this evening and decided to push on. I decided to stop at about 6:30 p.m. and pulled into the town of Deming, New Mexico for the night. Good thing, too. Within 30 seconds of turning off the ignition the clouds sent down a blast of sleet and wind!
--Larry Spears [Saturday, Jan. 23, 2010]
--Larry Spears [Friday, Jan. 22, 2010]
Incidentally, the last four or five days have brought near record rainfall for California, and heavy snow (measured in feet, not inches) in the higher elevations of Arizona. The first round on Sunday/Monday prompted me to bypass the Grand Canyon due to road conditions. Then, checking the road conditions and weather forecast this afternoon, I decided to exercise caution and to not attempt navigating the icy roads to see the Grand Canyon. Nearly five feet of snow has fallen there in recent days, and the roads are said to be treacherous. While it’s a bit disappointing not to be able to visit the Grand Canyon on this trip, I feel it is the wiser choice. As such, I am taking a more southerly route for the next few days. I hope to make it as far as Tucson on Friday.
--Larry Spears [Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010]
Warren and I met for coffee and conversation at a hotel near the beach. As I was waiting for him, I recalled some of our previous interactions over the years.
• In the 1990’s, Warren and I had served together on the early board of the International Leadership Association, then led by Barbara Kellerman. We generally met at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD.
• In May, 2000 I had travelled to the University of Southern California to participate in a Festschrift honoring Warren. It was a wonderful recognition of Warren’s contributions to our understanding of leadership, and servant-leadership.
• In 2002 I included an essay written by Warren (“Become a Tomorrow Leader”) in Focus on Leadership (John Wiley & Sons, 2002), a book that I had edited with Michelle Lawrence.
• In 2003 I travelled to Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I produced a videotaped presentation of Warren and conducted an interview with him that was also included as a bonus feature in a Greenleaf Center DVD. I recalled his “Five C’s of Organizational Integrity: Caring, Constancy, Competence, Congruency, and Candor.”
• Recently, Warren wrote the Foreword to Scanlon Epic Leadership (Scanlon Foundation, 2008), a book that I edited with my friend Paul Davis.
There are many other reasons why I appreciate Warren—
His contribution to our overall understanding of effective leadership has been enormous. Through his writings, speeches, and consulting he has helped many leaders and organizations to develop a deeper understanding of the complexities involved in making good and ethical decisions.
Warren is a superb writer. And, much like Robert Greenleaf, repeated reading of his books and essays yield new insights for the discerning reader—a clear sign of great writing.
In 1977, Warren had endorsed Bob Greenleaf’s first book, Servant Leadership (Paulist Press, 1977/2002) on the dust jacket. At the time, Bennis was president of the University of Cincinnati.
Warren is a living bridge to any number of people who have worked to create better organizational environments. My own understanding has benefitted from his sharing of stories of his meetings with Bob Greenleaf, Joe Scanlon, Doug MacGregor, Peter Drucker and other 20th century giants whose ideas continue to shape the 21st century.
Over the years, Warren’s occasional personal notes of encouragement and appreciation have both lifted my spirits and helped me to reframe my own work in servant-leadership.
Warren Bennis is a wise man, and the wisdom contained in his written work continues in its growth and influence on others. I am grateful for his friendship.
--Larry Spears [Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010]
I arrived at my hotel near the beach in Santa Monica and checked-in, feeling most grateful to have made it safely through the elements, and through my interesting two-week westward journey.
I had dinner with a friend who lives in Santa Monica, Roger Slifer. Roger and I went to Morristown High School together in the early 1970’s. We also worked together at that time at the Bluebird Restaurant in Morristown, Indiana where we earned $1.45 an hour as short order cooks. Roger lived in New York City for many years where he worked for both Marvel Comics and DC Comics as a comic book letterer and writer. Later, he moved to California, where he has worked in the animation industry as a scriptwriter. Looking back forty years to our days in Morristown, we were able to note with some satisfaction that each of us had chosen roads less travelled, and that over the past four decades those roads have led us to interesting and fulfilling lives.
--Larry Spears [Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010]
I was amused to drive through Needles, California—largely because I have always been a major fan of Charles Shultz and his Peanuts comic strip. Shultz used to live in Needles and he made it the home of Snoopy’s Western cousin, Spike. Parts of the classic film, The Grapes of Wrath, had also been filmed in Needles.
The sky was getting dark and it started to rain as I entered the Mojave Desert portion of the trip. I decided to take the safer route and to stick mostly to I-40 through the desert. It started to rain heavily, and I began to wonder about things like flash floods and mudslides that I have read about taking place in the desert and hills. Thankfully, I didn’t see anything like that. It was still raining heavily when I pulled into the motel in Barstow for the evening.
--Larry Spears [Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010]
Kingman, Arizona is the birthplace of character actor Andy Devine, and a street has been named for him. I had read that Clark Gable and Carole Lombard had been married in Kingman.
--Larry Spears [Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010]
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